According to a Reuters report, BYD chairman Wang Chuanfu made a bold claim at an annual shareholder conference in Shenzen earlier this month: “BYD will truly become the number one automaker globally in terms of scale in five years.”
In 2025, BYD ranked sixth in global sales, moving around 4.6 million vehicles, outpacing a handful of legacy automakers like Ford and Honda. Toyota, which ranks number one globally, is the brand to beat; it sold over double that of BYD’s volume at 11.32 million units.
This ambitious claim comes amid a domestic performance slump for BYD. Intensifying competition between Chinese brands in their home market has dampened BYD’s strength, resulting in sliding stock prices. Its stock prices in Shenzen and Hong Kong have dropped by as much as 45% from their respective peaks in March 2025.
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However, its performance in export markets continues to grow. Brazil, Britain, and Australia are key markets for BYD as the largest in volume paired with low trade barriers. As for Southeast Asia and Middle East, the growth of BYD and other Chinese brands have taken away market share from legacy brands.
In the Philippines, BYD recorded impressive growth last year at 26,122 vehicles sold. This represents a 446% increase from 2024, and rank number three among the top car brands in the country. Significant sales drivers include the Seagull EV and the Sealion 6 PHEV. Ahead of it, however, are Japanese brands Mitsubishi and Toyota.
Going forward, Chuanfu claims that BYD’s strong export performance and superior technology will be key to achieving the goal of overtaking Toyota. Focus is on ramping up production of the brand’s second-generation Blade battery, which Chuanfu identifies as a bottleneck to BYD’s growth this year.
